things. he's been doing it, gradually getting us to forget how bad things were. they don't blame obama for the weak economy, they still blame w. this isn't about right or wrong. that's what w. did and his crowd did. i want president obama to do what he looks like he's already doing, getting it done right and on time. he knows it's an unclear dimension, nobody knows, i don't know, how bad the whirlwinds will be if we fail to do this on time. and one thing for certain, there's no guarantee that a huge drop in faith by the world economic markets will be followed by a quick rebound. as i said, this is a real cliff, not a bungee jump. that's "hardball" for now. "politicsnation" starts with al sharpton. good evening, americans, welcome to "the ed show" from new york. senator jim demint has met his waterloo. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> one republican senator said, i'm quoting him now, if we're able to stop obama on this, it will be his waterloo. it will break him. think about that.

>> jim demint is cutting and running. john boehner is in a box. grover norquist near oblivion. karl rove benched on fox news. and the real action of barack obama has sent the republican party into total disarray. >> that's what i'm talking about. >> congressman jim clyburn of south carolina and eugene robinson on the latest republican fiasco. plus, congressman chris van hollen on john boehner's latest concession on the fiscal cliff. michael eric dyson and donna gentile-o'donnell on the political fallout. howard dean on chris christie's big decision on the obama care exchange. and apple's ceo breaks big news to nbc's brian williams. >> next year, we will do one of our existing mac lines in the united states. >> tonight, a story of economic patriotism in an era of bain capital with e.j. dionne.

good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. the reality of the election is start to set in on members of the republican party. republican senator jim demint of south carolina is leaving capitol hill to become president of the heritage foundation. don't cry for demint. the out-going president of the heritage foundation made $1.1 million according to 2010 tax filings. demint will do just fine. it's not just about the money. the senator realizes he could be more effective for the conservative movement if he's not attached to the dysfunctional party known as the republican party. in a statement, demint said "i'm leaving the senate now but i'm not leaving the fight. i've decided to join the heritage foundation at a time when the conservative movement needs strong leadership in the battle of ideas." he was more to the point on cnn earlier today. >> this will give me the opportunity to help take our case to the american people and

to translate our policies into real ideas. >> so you think you could be more influential within the conservative movement as the leader of the heritage foundation as opposed to a united states senator? >> there's no question about it. >> in case you need a little refresher course, jim demint has been one of the most prominent voices of the tea party movement over the last four years. he led the charge to defeat obama care. >> if we're able to stop obama on this, it will be his waterloo. it will break him and we will show that we can, along with the american people, begin to push those freedom solutions that work in every area of our society. >> and demint is an outspoken opponent of labor unions and workers rights. >> i don't believe collective bargaining has any place in government. >> including at a federal level?

>> including at the federal level. that's what elections are. collective bargaining. >> house democratic leader nancy pelosi pointed out jim demint was one of the ringleaders in voting down the u.n. treaty for people with disabilities this week. >> that was one of the saddest days, so anyone who was a party to that, well, i wish them well wherever they are going and hope that we can have more of our values represented there. >> it was demint and his tea party allies who pushed the country to the brink of default back in 2011. this is what demint told abc news about republicans who tried to strike a debt deal. >> what happens if -- what happens to republicans who go along with a debt ceiling increase? if they go along with the debt ceiling increase without a balanced budget amendment and the kind of stuff you're talking about? >> i think for the most part

they're gone. it would be the most toxic vote we could take. >> demint's far right ideology is a key reason nothing gets done in this congress. house speaker john boehner is currently being pressured by demint and his followers to refuse any debt deal with tax increases. demint was on rush limbaugh's radio show today with heritage president ed feulner. life isn't going to get any easier for john boehner, i can tell you that. >> jim is a real man of ideas as well as a man of courage in the senate. >> well, i think it's safe to say boehner is not forcing either of you guys out, right? >> that's pretty true. >> it might work the other way, rush. >> jim demint's defection is just the latest sign of a republican party simply in shambles. seems to me there's a civil war inside the party of grover norquist as well. you'll notice that only 10% of voters agree with his anti-tax policies. republican kingmaker karl rove is on the outs after his election night meltdown on fox news.

he's been kicked off fox news until further notice. tea party organizer dick armey, what happened to him? he has split from freedom works. the tea party group that he actually formed. he walked with $8 million. everywhere you look, republicans are in disarray. it's almost like they never planned for a scenario in which barack obama was going to win re-election. the problems don't end here. say what you want about jim demint's positions, at least he was the well-connected -- he was the well connected to the republican establishment. moderate republicans believed demint could keep the radicals in line. the same certainly can't be said for tea party senators jim demint, who he leaves behind. demint's political operation spent a lot of time and money to get young conservatives elected to the senate. guys like mike lee, ted cruz, marco rubio, ron johnson, pat toomey and rand paul. yeah, rand paul, the man who wants to abolish virtually every government agency and restore the gold standard. with jim demint gone, i guess you could look at rand paul as the de facto leader of the tea party senators. establishment republicans, they ought to be nervous. senator lindsey graham looked like he was in a state of shock on the senate floor today. >> i met with jim demint this

morning, and i, to say i was stunned is an understatement. he has always been a friend. somebody i could count on. personally, we've really enjoyed our time together. and i just -- i was stunned this morning. >> the tea party has poisoned, i think, the well of the senate and the republican ideology. the gop is so far out of the mainstream right now you can hardly recognize them from ten years ago. a new quinnipiac poll shows americans support raising taxes on the wealthy 65% to 31%. republicans, i think they're in the wilderness. they face a changing demographical situation in this country they don't know how to deal with. they've not dealt with women's issues properly and they have ignored immigration reform. it's time for the republicans to take a page out of the "ed show" and let's get to work. i'm joined tonight by congressman jim clyburn of south carolina and also eugene robinson, msnbc political

analyst and associate editor and pulitzer prize winning columnist for "washington post" but most of all i can title them both as two distinguished gentlemen from south carolina. gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight. congressman, you first. is the congress -- >> thank you so much. >> is the congress better or worse off with a guy like jim demint? >> well, i wouldn't put it that way, ed. i think that jim is a very principled guy. i never agreed with a single one of his principles, but he's a very principled guy. he is doing what he thinks he needs to do in order to further his cause.

he has had some real serious problems with his relationships in the senate. i think all of us who practice politics know that if you're going to be successful in any legislative body, you have to develop relationships with people and people have to feel comfortable knowing that you are going to be a certain place at a certain time. i don't think that anybody in the senate ever felt comfortable where jim demint was on any of the issues, and he had a lot of strained relationships within his own party over there. so i think he'll be much more comfortable outside of the body and over at the heritage foundation where he can pontificate, and as we say down here, he can preach to the choir. >> well, he'll do a pretty good job of that. he has in the past. eugene robinson, this is very unusual that someone would give up a senate seat to do something like this. i don't know if we have ever seen this before. it's highly unusual. what statement is demint making by doing this? that the conservative party has lot its bearing and he's got to bring them home?

>> yeah. i think that's exactly the statement he's making. i think, look, in the wake of the election, many republicans are -- it's dawning on them that a lot of republican policies are just flat-out unpopular. that people don't like them. and so as republicans, marco rubio's talking about immigration and he's one of demint acolytes. other senators are going to start moving, i think, on some of these issues. and so rather than kind of be swamped by i don't know if you can call it a wave, but whatever the movement is in the senate, i think demint is going to a perch that he sees right now more powerful, more influential, where he can have more impact on the debate. and i would just add, you know, that i don't think either congressman clyburn or i is going to be named the interim senator by governor haley.

i think we're both out of the running. i don't mean to break that news. >> she's probably going to see this as a great opportunity. but whoever takes it has to go through an election in 2014. they will not serve out the next four years of jim demint's term. no question about that. you, again, eugene, does he replace grover norquist or does he become, so to speak, for lack of a better term, hit man number two for the conservative? if you don't do it my way, we're going to get after you. he's been known from the primaries. >> he's kind of been that, right? he's going to continue doing that. one of the big questions i have is what this means for the heritage foundation which has been kind of what passes for a mainstream think tank. is it still a think tank if jim demint is running it since we know what he thinks. we know what heritage is going to come out with. i wonder if this doesn't in some way in the medium term, at least, sort of marginalize heritage, perhaps, from the mainstream conservative debate. we'll have to see. >> no doubt. well, he will certainly make sure that the opinions and the

research that comes out of the heritage foundation is a hell of a lot more to the right than it ever has been. congressman, do democrats benefit from republicans being fractured? or is it going to be harder to get things done? >> well, it's a mixed blessing. you know, when you see this kind of activity going on among your opponents, you do see that as an opportunity to kind of drive wedges or keep your folks together. but you could also say you don't know exactly who to deal with or when to deal with them when they're scattered like this. that's why i am very hopeful that john boehner can, in fact, continue to bring his caucus together. he's doing a pretty good job for the last couple of days with his caucus.

i hope he continues because i believe in the two-party system. i do believe that we ought to have good, productive debate. but in the final analysis, you have to know who you're debating with and you don't want to debate with somebody who is spending more time debating within his or her own party. so that's a real big problem. let me say this about jim demint and the heritage foundation. i really do question whether or not jim demint and the heritage foundation make for a good fit. because i actually agree with what eugene just said. this has been a think tank where people develop policies and lay them out for people to run on. but when you start trying to sponsor people in primaries, like jim demint has done, i would hope that's not what's going it happen to the heritage foundation. >> okay. congressman jim clyburn of south

carolina. and eugene robinson of "washington post." great to have both of you with us tonight. thanks so much. coming up, mitch mcconnell made history in the senate today. he called for a vote on his debt limit bill. democrats called his bluff and then believe it or not, mcconnell filibustered his own bill. congressman chris van hollen joins me on all of the latest fiasco surrounding the fiscal cliff.

president obama is taking his fiscal cliff plan to the people. will republicans buckle under public pressure? msnbc's political analyst michael eric dyson and democratic strategist donna gentile-o'donnell will weigh in on that tonight.

welcome back to "the ed show." president obama has put house speaker john boehner and republicans in a box on fiscal cliff negotiations. and the evidence is mounting. president obama stayed on offense today, visiting the santana family in northern virginia whose taxes will go up more than $4,000 in 2013 if middle class tax cuts aren't extended. >> i'm encouraged to see that there's been some discussion on the part of republicans acknowledging the need for additional revenue. as i've indicated, the only way to get the kind of revenue for a balanced deficit reduction plan is to make sure that we're also modestly increasing rates for people who can afford it. folks like me.

just to be clear, i'm not going to sign any package that somehow prevents the top rate from going up for folks at the top 2%. >> the concerted effort from the white house is very clear. here's white house press secretary jay carney. >> what will produce a deal is an acknowledgement by republicans, republican leaders, that rates on the top 2%, the wealthiest americans, have to rise. there is no deal without that acknowledgement, and without a concrete, mathematically sound proposal -- >> but speaker boehner still insists he can get the revenue without raising rates? >> now, the revenues we're putting on the table are going to come from guess who? the rich. there are ways to limit deductions, close loopholes, and have the same people pay more of their money to the federal government without raising tax rates, which we believe will

harm our economy. >> some conservatives just can't stand hearing speaker boehner admit the rich will pay more in taxes, but other republicans want boehner to concede a rate hike before it's too late. a congressman told the "washington post," "i and some others are advocating giving the president what he wants as part of the package that includes entitlement cuts and reduces the debt by $4 trillion to $5 trillion. quite frankly, some people in this 2% who call me, they're more worried about the fiscal cliff than they are about rates going up a couple of points." congressman thomas rooney of florida said, "if there are truly real entitlement reforms that are going to be preserve social security and medicare for generations to come, it's going to be difficult for me to oppose higher rates for the rich." president obama and speaker boehner spoke by phone yesterday

for the first time in a week. white house press secretary jay carney i find very interesting refused to characterize the conversation. let's bring in congressman chris van hollen of maryland tonight. good to have you with us. >> always good to when with you. >> you bet. are democrats united on this rate issue? we keep hearing it. now that boehner is starting to move a little bit and say that the money is going to come from the wealthy, yet he hasn't identified these reductions, where do democrats stand on rates? is that the bottom line? the rates have to go up? >> the rates have to go up, ed. it's a matter of simple math, as the president has said. which is why in the house of representatives the democrats filed what's called a discharge petition that would require the speaker to bring to the floor of the house the senate bill, the

senate democratic bill that immediately would extend tax relief to all middle income taxpayers and would ask higher income folks to pay more. if we can get about 26 republicans to put their signature on what many of them are saying they think we should do now, we could get that vote up right away. >> well, you got 178 on the petition, correct? >> that's right. we have 178 democrats. i'm sure we'll continue to get democrats to sign. and so we just need to get to the magic number of 218. so if we get a little help from our republican colleagues, they would be telling the middle class that middle class folks are going to get the tax relief, 98% of the americans. in fact, as you know, 100% of american families will get tax relief on their first $250,000 in income. >> yeah. why does -- okay. let's say boehner does give up on the rates on the top 2%. what are you willing to give up? where do you think the democrats will go? >> well, first of all, it's also the overall number the president's called for. what the president has said is we need $1.6 trillion as part of an overall deficit reduction plan because if you don't get those additional revenues, but

you also try to reduce the deficit, you end up whacking everybody else much harder. and so it's really important to have that revenue number as high as possible. >> sure. >> look, the president's already been clear, ed, on cuts. he will continue to implement over the next ten years over $1 trillion in cuts that he agreed to as part of the budget control act. 100% cuts and at the time he said we got to come back and do revenue. he's also called for over a half trillion dollars in additional cuts and he's laid out exactly what those would be. >> today senate minority leader mitch mcconnell dared democrats to vote on his debt ceiling bill. he put it out there. majority leader harry reid called him on it, called his bluff. then mcconnell filibustered his own bill. here's senator dick durbin. >> so this may be a moment in senate history when a senator made a proposal and when given an opportunity for a vote on that proposal filibustered his own proposal. i think we have now reached a new spot in the history of the senate we've never seen before. >> congressman, proof positive they have winging it. >> well, look, the senate and house republicans are just

tieing themselves up in all sorts of knots. this is the latest evidence of this. this is known now as the mcconnell rule. and now he wants to distance himself and disassociate himself with it. you know, his name is attached to it. he thought of this idea. and what the president has said is, you know, it was a good idea then, senator mcconnell, let's continue to live with it, let's extend it. and as you know, all we're doing with the debt ceiling is saying that the united states will pay the obligations that the congress has already voted on. >> sure. >> so you can't wake up in the morning and say you're not going to pay your mortgage. the united states can't wake up in the morning and say, we're not going to pay the debts that we've already incurred and congresses have already voted for. >> and what else do the republicans want? you have the democrats willing to go with 98% of bush tax policy and they're still not happy. congressman, good to have you with us tonight. chris van hollen here on "the ed show." thank you. the president asks the american people to keep the pressure on congress. will republicans cave?

donna gentile-o'donnell and michael eric dyson join us for the discussion. and chris christie becomes the latest republican governor to reject a state-run health insurance exchange. he's leaving it up to the feds. former governor howard dean will weigh in. stay tuned.

if congress does nothing, every family in america will see

their income taxes automatically go up on january 1st. i'm assuming that doesn't sound too good to you. that's sort of like the lump of coal you get for christmas. that's a scrooge christmas. >> welcome back to "the ed show." president obama will hit the road again monday bringing his message to the people of detroit. the president has asked the american people to put pressure on congress to accept a deal in fiscal cliff negotiations. the white house is pulling out all stops and cranking up the social media campaign. president obama has been encouraging supporters to tweet with the #my2k, explaining what a $2,000 tax increase would mean for them and their families. the white house reports the hash tag has appeared in over 275,000 tweets with twitter seeing more than 18,000 tweets per hour add its peak. the road show coupled with the social media campaign is unprecedented. this is the kind of effort that helped president obama win a second term.

now we'll see if his grassroots army can convince republicans to do what's right by the american people. i'm joined tonight by democratic strategist donna gentile-o'donnell and msnbc political analyst and georgetown university professor, michael eric dyson. great to have you with us tonight. >> thank you. >> i just want to go right to this poll. this quinnipiac poll was released today, and it shows the majority of the american people want tax rates to go up for the top 2%. donna, what about this? i mean, i don't think we can find a poll out there anywhere that supports john boehner and his position. why won't he cave? >> well, i think boehner would like to. i think he'd like to do a deal. i think alan simpson characterized it best when he talked about the dynamic in the republican caucus. boehner is trying to lead and standing right behind him is eric cantor and these were simpson's words, holding a shiv, checking out that job. i think the disconnects in the caucus are reflected by a kind of political opportunism

presenting itself that's detrimental to achieving that kind of deal. >> if that's all correct, the question is, will john boehner put himself behind what's good for the country or put himself ahead of the country? >> i'm hoping it's for the good of the country. i still want to be an optimist in america. >> well, president obama is very firm, michael, professor, on the rates. is he going to get it? >> i think so. look, the best thing that happened to john boehner was obama's victory because it was able to -- he was able to purge the kind of tea partyism to the right of him to shore up his own interests and, look, i think as donna has indicated, with all optimism here, john boehner wants to get it done because he's a work a day kind of political activist. he wants to make sure stuff gets

done. he wants to leave a legacy. he knows he can't do that if he's opposed to what most americans want to do right now which is keep the rates going up for those who are at the top. why can't the rich pay their fair share? and i think the republicans have seen the handwriting on the wall. >> 65% of the people support the president when it comes to higher rates. donna, who has the next move? >> i think that the house caucus has got to permit boehner to put the cards on the table. the president has been abundantly clear he's available to be in a compromise -- to compromise, but what he's not going to do is lay those cards out first. so the republican caucus is going to have to settle themselves with the idea they lost this election, they lost this debate. >> they can't seem to come to grips with that. >> well, you know, this is, you know -- barbara bush said it best. move on. >> well, what should, if anything, the democrats put on the table, michael? >> well, look, certainly not the entitlements, so-called, that the republicans want to pare back. we know a family of four making

$24,000 can barely make it above the poverty level. why throw food stamps in there? why talk about social security and the so-called other entitlements that provided the margin of survival for those who are the poorest? the rich have got to learn to pay their fair share. i think president obama understands the wind is beneath his wings and the people of america are behind his back. and he's got to play his card. he's got to stand strong and stand tough. he can do procedural stuff but nothing substantive when it comes to those movements. >> does social media have an impact? >> they're brilliantly using the internet. they're catching up with rappers and reality stars. if you deploy resources on twitter, instagram, the like, facebook. if it happened in the arab spring, it can certainly defrost the american winter. >> donna, this is where the republicans are really inept. they have no kind of social networking ground game. they have no poll that supports what they want to do. even the ceos and the business roundtable yesterday were telling the president, you know, we got this thing about rates.

so it must come down to boehner's future. do you see more and more republicans starting to peel off in the house? will this pressure mount? >> absolutely. i think -- i think we're seeing an awful lot of republicans already folding privately. and i think that that's being reflected in the larger debate. i think we're going to see more of that. i mean, i'm very struck by -- the day after we had the sacred cows of the republican party -- i mean, there was a barbecue of the sacred cows. it was amazing. grover norquist, persona non grata. karl rove, completely unwelcomed in many corners in which he was star in the sun king. i think as people are feeling that, you're sensing that they really need to rethink in both short term and long term what kind of a republican party can they be? >> okay. donna gentile-o'donnell and michael eric dyson. professor, great to have you with us tonight. there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay tuned. >> we're not going to implement obama care in florida. >> we're going to continue to push back on washington, d.c. >> add new jersey and south dakota to the list of states where republican governors are

still fighting obama care. i'll ask howard dean what this means for the people. i know you are, but what am i? >> america's zaniest congressman takes a stand on a cause close to his heart. >> we shouldn't eliminate the word lunatic. it really has application around this town. and apple's ceo breaks big news to brian williams on "rock center." >> we've been working for years on doing more and more in the united states. and next year we will do one of our existing mac lines in the united states. >> tonight, the story behind apple's economic patriotism in an era of bain capital. with e.j. dionne.

welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. republicans are continuing their fight against the affordable care act. obama care. governor chris christie of new jersey became the latest republican governor to reject

the creation of a state-run health care exchange today. christie vetoed a bill that would have started the process. instead, leaving the implementation up to the federal government. christie says the federal government failed to provide the answers he needed to make a fiscally sound decision. the move came after christie met with the president at the white house to discuss federal disaster relief. the state health insurance exchange is a key component to the obama care. it allows millions of middle class households as well as small businesses to shop for private insurance. states must decide by next friday if they want to set up their own exchange. they will -- they were allowed more time to mull over the decision after many republican governors delayed action. perhaps expecting a different outcome to the presidential election. new jersey is just the latest state with a republican governor to opt for the federal government to step in and create the exchange.

let's turn to former vermont governor howard dean and former chairman of the dnc and contributor to cnbc. governor dean, good to have you with us tonight. i think you know this whole story well. these republican governors want these exchanges simply to fail, but is it actually in a way better to have the federal government step in and get that infrastructure if we want to expand it down the road someday? how do you see it? >> well, that's the interesting thing. the republicans at this point are cutting off their nose to spite their face which is not something they are unfamiliar with. yeah, a national exchange which is essentially what the republicans are voting with their feet to do, there's going to be an exchange in about 25 states, a federal exchange. and i think the introduction of the exchange is going to be somewhat bumpy. the fact is after it gets set up we're going to have a universal national health insurance system. the republicans don't like, but it's in the best interest of the united states. once again, they're doing the right thing for the wrong reason. >> there's a lot of conversations about resources to set up these federal exchanges

in these states. that there's no budget for it. or am i wrong on that? and will the appropriations committee obviously have a lot to do with this because republicans say they want to de-fund it? how is this going to work out? >> there is a budget for it. whether it's adequate or not, who knows. but the federal government has already committed money to the states that are going to run their own exchanges. so i'm assuming there's enough money to set up the federal exchanges. again, this is a system, i mean, as far as i can tell, this just puts us further along the path of a universal federally run health care system which the republicans claim they don't want. they're also rejecting medicaid money which is completely insane. they're going to bankrupt their hospital systems. i think most of them will see the light of day and see the light of reason and take back that stance. but some of them will go right into driving their hospitals into bankruptcy. it's amazing to me to see a party of people who put ideology ahead of practicality especially at the gubernatorial level. governors don't usually do that. they got some that do now. >> well, they certainly do. why do you think they're doing it? is it because they don't want to see president obama succeed?

is it a sellout to the private sector? is it campaign funds? what is it? >> i think some of them just want to run for president one day. i mean, there's no reason i can imagine why you wouldn't accept medicare to 100% guarantee or even 90%. when i was running for president, if south carolina did what vermont did, insure every child in the state under the age of 18 they would increase their gross state product by 2% just because of the federal money coming into the state. it's pretty hard when you're a governor to say, no, we don't want economic growth and, no, we'll take a 2% haircut on our growth. i just don't get it. i don't get how you can get elected governor without serving the people who elected you. >> interesting in south dakota, the governor has opted for the federal exchange. he's also rejected the medicaid expansion which you just mentioned which would, of course, offer benefits to poor people who qualify. here it is. >> i want to stress that these are able-bodied adults.

they're not disabled. we already cover the disabled. they're not children. we already cover children. these are adults, all of them. >> these are adults, all of them. as if it's just they ought to be able to take care of it themselves. >> this is a silly thing to say. not only are they adults, they're mostly working adults who can't afford health insurance. who are these people that get elected to these kinds of position? i don't get it at all. what's going to happen in south dakota, right now these hospitals are taking care of a lot of people. there's something called dish money, disproportionate share money. that money is aimed at helping people who don't have any health insurance and don't get -- can't pay the bills and are not eligible for medicaid. since all these people are now

supposedly eligible for medicaid, the dish money goes away. now all the people of south carolina, excuse me, of south dakota, are going to pay higher health insurance premiums because their governor refused to accept medicaid. those people are going to get taken care of anyway that don't get the medicaid and now the citizens of south dakota are going to pull out of their pockets extra health insurance premiums to pay for them. how is this serving the people of south dakota? >> it simply is not. there are a lot of governors not paying attention to detail. they're rejecting it for the sense of rejecting it. howard dean, great to have you with us tonight. appreciate your time. >> thanks a lot, ed. coming up, an outspoken republican congressman is fighting hard for a word that helps him do his job. we'll show you who it is, next. stay with us. and we are back. twitter is erupting tonight over

and we are back. twitter is erupting tonight over breaking news out of michigan where republicans in the state have passed a right to work law. kevin tweets, "michigan must be crazy. right to work legislation quickly brings lower wages. aren't they suffering enough?" and ellen vollbrecht says "the name right to work is one of the biggest cons. it's not right to work. it's the right to be fired for any reason whether right or wrong." keep sharing your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter

using #edshow. coming up, apple ceo tim cook announces plans to produce some of their computers right here in the united states. i'll ask e.j. dionne if the move could cause other companies to rethink where they're manufacturing. stay with us.

and we are back. the congressman who gave us terror babies is standing alone to preserve lunacy. texas congressman louie gohmert gave his heartfelt floor speech wednesday about protecting a word he feels is very important to doing his job. >> the last vote we took today was to eliminate the word "lunatic" from our federal law, and i don't have a problem with "lunatic" being used in the federal law. and apparently i was the only one here on the floor that didn't have a problem with using the term "lunatic."

>> louie gohmert was the only no vote on a bill to strike the word "lunatic" from federal laws. gohmert went on to say the word "lunatic" is needed to describe those who contribute to our national debt. >> we want to eliminate the word "lunatic" from the federal code? that's lunacy. to think you can keep spending over $1 trillion more than you bring in. >> he's the gift that just keeps on giving this holiday season. he says it's lunacy to spend more than you bring in. let's take a look at a few of louie gohmert's votes contributing to our debt. he voted to extend the bush tax cuts. he voted for the war in iraq. not once, but a number of times. he voted for reduced rates on capital gains taxes. he voted to keep subsidies for oil and gas companies. that's a big one. but the best part of louie gohmert's crusade to protect the word "lunatic" is this --

>> this administration sent planes and bombs and support to oust gadhafi so that al qaeda and the muslim brotherhood could take over libya. i don't want to make you sick, but i brought an abortion to show you today. and i would just like to conclude with words of my friend, dick morris, who said, i know there's a disagreement on when life begins in america, but for heaven's sake, we ought to agree that life ends when you die. >> now we know why congressman louie gohmert of texas feels so passionately about protecting the word "lunatic." coming up, one of the world's biggest companies is coming back to america. they're not worried about profits. they're worried about the american workforce. we'll explain why, next. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare,

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center" at 10:00 p.m. williams asked cook the multibillion dollar question. >> why can't you be a made-in-america company? >> you know, this iphone, as a matter of fact, the engine in here is made in america. and not only are the engines in here made in america, but engines are made in america and are exported. the glass on this phone is made in kentucky. and so we've been working for years on doing more and more in the united states. next year we will do one of our existing mac lines in the united states. >> apple won't say which kind of mac will be built here, but the ceo says the investment in the united states production will start next year. and what apple says about u.s. workforce really caught our attention. >> it's not a matter of bringing it back, it's a matter of starting it here. >> tim cook says there's a problem with the american workforce? there's a serious labor gap for big manufacturers ever since the 1960s, the service sector has

been gaining jobs and manufacturing has dropped. 86% of jobs are reportedly in the service industry in our country now. only 14% are still in manufacturing. apple says it needs more skilled american labor. but let's be honest. companies like apple caused the problem in the first place. for decades, u.s. trade policy has rewarded companies like bain capital for gutting the nation's manufacturing core. republicans have cleared the way for companies to make massive profits by using cheaper labor in china. china's also got middle managers to run the factories. chinese workers have been trained in skilled positions for decades. those same skilled positions have nearly vanished here in the united states. and chinese labor is the reason apple can afford to train americans and pay american wages right now. look at this apple's net income. $41.7 billion over the last 4 quarters.

that ain't bad. in fact, that's almost $7 billion more than the next six companies combined. microsoft, ebay, google, yahoo! facebook, and amazon. they can't keep up. cheap chinese labor helped apple make almost $50 billion in the next fiscal quarter, alone. those profits allow apple to finally do the right thing. they're going to hire more americans. the ceo says he feels the company has a responsibility to create jobs. we wish more ceos would show that economic patriotism. it's a heck of a start. let's bring in e.j. dionne, msnbc contributor and "washington post" columnist and author of the book "our divided political heart." e.j., we need more stories like this. what kind of skilled labor does apple need? what do you think the ceo is talking about? where are we lacking? >> well, i think that, first of all, i think that there is a guardedly good news story going

on in manufacturing right now because a lot of companies they're not all doing this for economic patriotism. they're discovering that having long supply lines isn't such a good idea. they're discovering that there's a certain stability about our country that's good for them. they're also discovering that you do better rnd, andy grove made this some points ago. your rnd is better when you have all the manufacturing together with the research. and i do think that when we talk about bringing manufacturing home, or getting it started here, it's not just about the workers, although that's enough for me. my colleagues martin bailey and bruce katz of the brookings institution note while manufacturing is only 12% of gdp, it's 70% of the spending on research and development. so this is good for us. i don't know if specifically what he's talking about about

american workers, but i know that the president talked a lot about it in the campaign about how you can give people even an extra year of training after high school, can make an enormous difference in their income. i'm really hoping that the president sort of makes a new prosperity for the united states, a big part of this second term. and tries to bring together these initiatives to strengthen worker bargaining power on the one side, higher minimum wage. but also to try to enhance people's skills so they can take better jobs. >> i mean, have they been shamed because they have made so much money? how could they not bring some of those billions of dollars to the united states with the economic situation we've got right now, just over 8% unemployment? will it really motivate other companies to do the same, or is apple in a class of its own? >> well, there are other companies bringing manufacturing back. caterpillar, i believe, is doing it. ge has done some of it, is talking about doing more of it. and i do think we, as americans,